On March 16th, European local time, European Patent Office (EPO) released the Patent Index 2020. According to the index, patent applications originating from China at the EPO grew by 9.9% in 2020, the highest growth rate among the ten leading patent filing countries, to 13,432 applications, setting a new record high. The EPO's Patent Index 2020 shows that despite the pandemic, the overall number of European pa

China leads the world in PCT applications On March 2, the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) released the data of the international filings for patents, trademarks and industrial designs in 2020. China filed 68,720 PCT applications in 2020, up 16.1%, continuing to lead the world in this field. In 2019, China surpassed the U.S. in PCT applications for the first time. "Despite the impact of COVID-19,

Chinese top court on Wednesday released a set of judicial interpretations to further clarify the application of punitive damages in civil cases involving intellectual property right (IPR) infringements. The interpretations, which enter into force on Wednesday, also specify the scope of application, elements of the "malicious intention" and "serious circumstances," as well as the rules for c

On January 22, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released yearly statistics on patent, trademark, geographic indication (GI) and layout design of integrated circuit in its first quarter press conference of 2021 in Beijing. All major statistics met expectations in 2020, indicating another step upward for the Chinese IP system. In 2020, China granted 530,000 invention patents. At the ye

OnJanuary 1, 2021, the patent feesand trademarkfeesfor the services outlined below will increase by 2%, in accordance with theService Fees Act. Patent Fees: Fee for applying for extension of time Fees respecting applications: Application Fee; All maintenance fees that are over $150.00; Request for examination fee (except for the small entity examination fee when application was subject of an intern

On November 11th, 2020, The Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress to Amend the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China was adopted at the 23rd Session of the Standing Committee of the Thirteenth National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China, and was promulgated by Order No. 62 of the President of the People's Republic of China. This is the thir